


Connected Stars

by madeoutoflight



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: A little anyway, Canon Compliant, Cheesy, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Domestic, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Group Hugs, M/M, Paper Lanterns, Post-The Raven King, Reunions, The Raven King Spoilers, cherry pit spitting, gratuitous use of brackets, just in case
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-13
Updated: 2016-06-13
Packaged: 2018-07-14 20:37:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7189268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madeoutoflight/pseuds/madeoutoflight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Blue, Gansey, and Henry return from their road trip. Adam comes home for the summer. Ronan and the Barns are ready to receive them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Connected Stars

**Author's Note:**

> short-ish piece I wrote in a flash for the lovely and inspiring [greekdemigod](http://archiveofourown.org/users/greekdemigod/pseuds/greekdemigod) based on her prompt, which was “the moment when the Glendower gang is reunited after that year apart in less than 1000 words”. obviously I failed the second requirement (even despite the slightly rushed ending) but here it is anyway, and I hope it’s enjoyable!

The last of the paper lanterns finally swung from the rail along the ceiling. For the twentieth time that day—or hour—Ronan regretted not having dreamt the stupid things. He could’ve made them so they’d attach themselves, or they’d float, or they’d dance a jig. Instead, he’d spent the better part of an hour fixing them to the ceiling himself, standing on a ladder that was supported precariously by two chairs. The lanterns had been Matthew’s contribution; Ronan hadn’t had the heart to leave them lying in the cupboard. 

He climbed down, swearing under his breath until his feet touched solid ground and Chainsaw fluttered to his shoulder. Ronan’s eyes darted to the clock on the microwave. Fifteen minutes since Blue had texted him to announce that they were twenty minutes away. That meant four hours and forty-seven minutes since Adam had texted him to say that he was getting into his car. 

That meant fifteen minutes at most until they would all be together again. 

Ronan wiped his hands on his black tee and made his way to the front door. He found Matthew and Opal sitting side by side on the porch, eating cherries out of a giant bowl that rested on Matthew’s legs. They turned in full synchronization and smiled up at him, the wide-eyed sunshine smiles of dreamed things. 

“You’re doing it wrong,” Ronan said. His brother and Opal blinked. Ronan reached for the bowl and clarified, “You’re eating cherries wrong.” 

He popped one into his mouth, biting down and savoring the sweet rich taste. Then he hollowed his cheeks and spat—the cherry pit shot out like a bullet from a gun. It landed in the dust over twenty feet away. Chainsaw flew over to peck at it with scientific curiosity. Matthew whooped, immediately scooping a handful of cherries out of the bowl to try himself. Opal gave Ronan a little frown. 

“What are you looking at?” he said, making a face at her. “It’s not littering, they’re cherry pits.” 

“Opal eats them,” Matthew said. “She likes them better than the cherry. Watch this!” 

He pursed his lips and spat out the pit he’d been holding. It made it to a less-than-impressive five feet, but Ronan clapped a hand on Matthew’s back anyway. At the same time, the growl of an engine ruptured the thick early-evening air. Ronan recognized it like he was the record the sound had been engraved on—he’d spent ages perfecting that engine, shaping and reshaping it, scattering prototypes around him as he woke up only so he could dive straight into another dream. 

Just as he finished that thought, the Pig emerged from the clump of trees obscuring the bend in the driveway. The late sunlight bounced off the hood. For a moment it felt like the Camaro itself was the sun, bright orange and shimmering with heat as it rolled towards them, a sunset smelling of gasoline and burned rubber. It was accompanied by ear-splitting indie rock. 

Then a head poked out of the passenger window, a head with spiky dark hair and a smile puffing up the cheeks to the size of balloons on the brink of bursting. Blue waved with an impossibly tan hand and arm, and on the driver’s side Gansey’s even tanner hand gave a royal salute. As the car pulled up, Henry dangled his feet out of the left window and his arms out of the right. With all those limbs sticking out, the Pig suddenly looked a lot like an actual pig. 

“Took you long enough!” Ronan called from the porch. Blue tumbled from the car and flipped him off right before she threw her arms around his neck. She could barely reach, but Ronan ducked a little to help her out (after letting her struggle for a few seconds, of course). She was very warm. 

Gansey came next, beaming and handsome and more ragged than he usually appeared. His shirt wasn’t tucked in, his hair had grown longer and wouldn’t lie flat, the laces on his shoes were muddy and not done up properly. His hug felt the same as always, though. It felt like he’d been waiting a long time to give that hug to someone special. 

Henry offered Ronan his hand and a smile. Ronan took the hand and offered a smirk in return, but it was neither sharp nor condescending. It was more of an inside joke, a smirk that said _“look at these losers, these assholes, these people we would die for.”_ Henry replied with an impish grin. He wore his rhinestoned sunglasses on top of his head, nestled there in a way that suggested he’d fixed them in place with hairspray like the rest of his hair. It should’ve felt out of place in the rustic energy of the Barns, but somehow it didn’t. 

A cherry pit hit Ronan in the back of his head. He turned around to find Blue arching an eyebrow at him, eyes sparkling. Ronan gave her a teeth-baring smile. “What do you want, maggot?” 

“Where’s Adam?” she asked. “Didn’t term end yesterday? I thought he’d take the first opportunity to come home.” 

_Home_. The word reverberated along Ronan’s spine. It probably showed, because Gansey’s face smoothed into an expression of pure delight, but Ronan still managed to shrug as usual. “He had a last shift at the campus gift shop this morning. He should be here soon.” 

“We’ll wait for him here,” Gansey said promptly, voicing what they all knew—they wouldn’t start the celebration without Adam. They couldn’t. 

Luckily, they didn’t have to wait very long. Blue had just sat down to teach Matthew proper cherry-spitting techniques (pissing off Opal, who decided to hug Gansey’s leg and grimace at Blue’s back in retaliation) when they all heard the splutter of another engine. The Hondayota didn’t sound nearly as glorious as the Pig, but the tension that lived under Ronan’s skin eased all the more for it. He stepped forward, hands buried in his pockets, fingers tapping against his thighs through the fabric. 

Adam waved as he parked behind the Camaro. The air freshener shaped like a Coca-Cola can, hanging from the rearview mirror, was a dream thing—as were the hubcaps, shiny and chrome and textured like birds’ (ravens’) wings. Chainsaw swooped in when Adam opened the door and landed on his shoulder so she could press herself lovingly against his cheek. Ronan watched Adam’s smile and his heart settled into an effortless, weightless rhythm. 

“Hey,” Adam said, coming to a halt in front of him. 

In response, Ronan kissed him. 

Chainsaw’s feathers brushed against his cheek as Adam’s mouth connected to his. They’d seen each other regularly over the course of the semester, but that didn’t make reuniting any less sweet. Ronan was good at being alone, at keeping busy and bossing Opal around and ignoring Matthew’s calls but accompanying him to the movies anyway. He was merely _better_ at all those things with Adam present. 

“It’s good to be home,” Adam whispered, curling his fingers into Ronan’s shirt briefly before pulling away. He raised his voice and glanced past Ronan to their audience on the porch. “Hey, guys.” 

That was Gansey’s and Blue’s and Henry’s cue to jump down the porch steps. They took turns hugging Adam and pushing each other out of the way to get to Adam again. At some point Blue just pulled Henry into the hug, and Henry grabbed Gansey, and Gansey ignored Ronan’s protests, and Ronan rolled his eyes before beckoning Matthew. Opal squeezed in between Blue’s legs. It was almost uncomfortable, a little suffocating, too hot and painful where sides had to accommodate elbows and knees knocked into each other—but it was also, quite simply, good. 

Blue’s eyes were a little shiny when they released each other, and Gansey’s smile looked absolutely sappy. Ronan shook his head, but looped an arm around Adam. “Let’s go inside. Nerds.” 

His entire being felt refreshed, nerve endings clean and sharp and buzzing with electricity. They piled into the house, where Henry and Blue held an impromptu lantern-admiring contest, and sat on various available surfaces to polish off everything Ronan had stuffed into the fridge and cupboards. Afterwards, they relocated to the back porch, sharing popsicles and telling stories—road trip stories, stories about the stars above them, stories to make fun of Adam’s uptight (now former) roommate, things from way back at Aglionby and the search for Glendower and 300 Fox Way. 

Everything about it was easy. They had spent the year apart, and now they were together again, grown but not grown _away_. They were the connected stars of their very own constellation. Ronan flopped onto his back, laid his head in Adam’s lap and closed his eyes. 

“Going to dream?” Adam asked softly, fingertips tracing the hook of Ronan’s tattoo that tried to sneak down to his collarbones. 

“Nah,” Ronan said. “Got everything I need already.” 

**Author's Note:**

> I’m on [Tumblr](http://ravenrcnan.tumblr.com) and I appreciate any and all comments, so please do hit me up either there or here! :)


End file.
